In Gulu, I was abducted in the night.
They took me while I cocooned in sleep,
My arms around my brother,
My breath on his back

Utusamehe makosa yetu,
kama sisi nasi tuwasamehevyo wadeni wetu*

I remember when we could climb the mango trees,
Where the Umbelasha flows.
The mango juice squirting between our teeth,
Flesh sweet and pulpy, stickying our hands.

But now the mango trees are ash,
And Umbelasha is silent in the dry cracked desert.

Na usitutie majaribuni,
lakini utuokoe na yule mwovu.**

I cannot cry, for my heart is a desert
Your eyes haunt me.
I am an old man now,
But my heart is still at war.
It stopped on the day
I killed you.
On the day, by my own hand,
I became an orphan.